NEW YORK — Time Warner said Wednesday that its third-quarter net income rose 44 percent, helped by strong results at its cable networks.

The media and entertainment company also backed its profit guidance for the full year. Its shares rose 2 percent in morning trading.

Chairman and CEO Jeff Bewkes said the company’s TNT and TBS networks received some of the highest ratings among key cable TV audiences. Meanwhile, CNN also picked up market share, he said.

The company earned $1.18 billion, or $1.26 per share, up from $822 million, or 84 cents per share, in the same quarter of 2012.

Excluding one-time charges, its adjusted profit from continuing operations was $1.01 per share.

Revenue was flat at $6.86 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet expected $6.94 billion in revenue.

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Revenue from the company’s cable networks rose 5 percent to $3.5 billion, as advertising revenue rose 11 percent, helped by the growth at its U.S. cable networks.

Time Warner noted that TNT’s “Rizzoli & Isles” and “Major Crimes” series remained two of the top rated among original, scripted cable shows.

Meanwhile, revenue at the company’s Warner Bros. film and TV entertainment division fell 7 percent to $2.7 billion, mainly as a result of tough comparisons to a prior-year period boosted by revenue from the Batman film “The Dark Knight Rises.”

Revenue at Time Warner’s publishing division, which the company plans to eventually spin off, edged down 2 percent to $818 million.

New York-based Time Warner Inc. also said Tuesday that it still expects its full-year 2013 earnings per share to rise by a “mid-teens” percentage.

Its shares rose $1.43, or 2.1 percent, to $69.66 in morning trading. Its shares have risen almost 43 percent so far this year.


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